On Thin Ice 33

“Watch out!” Austin screamed as he stumbled past me on his skates, falling forward onto the ice. I couldn’t help but chuckle at him.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

Austin nodded, trying to push himself up but slipping again.

“I don’t know how you do this as a sport,” he muttered as I pulled him up to his feet.

“Lots of practice.”

It was Holly and Claudia’s idea for the group to go ice skating on Saturday night. The rest of the group wasn’t too keen on the idea but when we decided there was nothing else for us to do, we went along with it.

After my nap earlier in the day, I was ready to get out of the house.

I looked ahead and saw Lexa and Nadia holding hands while they were skating, shaking their heads at us.

“Can you pull me?” Austin asked, holding out his hand.

I nodded and grabbed him, pulling him along with me around the rink. Even with my guidance he had trouble staying on his feet.

“This is why I hate ice skating,” he complained with a scoff.

“Aw, aren’t you two so cute,” Nadia teased as she skated by us, motioning toward our hands.

“Shut up,” Austin shot back. “Since when do you two know how to ice skate?”

“It’s not like it’s hard,” Lexa replied.

“Better watch out, Elijah,” Nadia said with a coy smile. “I think having you pull him around the ice is Austin’s way of flirting with you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “I doubt it.”

“More like it’s my way of not dying out here,” Austin muttered.

“Where did Holly and Claudia go?” I asked as I looked around the rink. I saw Johnny and Trevor over on the other side, but the girls were nowhere to be found.

“Probably making out somewhere,” Nadia said with a shrug.

I had yet to see if Claudia had gotten any better at skating, but I highly doubted it.

“I’m taking a break,” Austin announced, grabbing onto the boards to keep himself up.

“So are we,” Lexa said. “We were just about to go get some hot chocolate.”

“Do you guys want any?” Nadia asked.

“I’m good,” I replied, shaking my head.

The two of them made their way off of the ice while Austin held himself up. I skated away from him, gliding past Trevor and Johnny as the two slowly skated against the boards.

“Hey Elijah!”

I spun around to see Fawn and Ava skating toward me. My stomach immediately dropped, thinking of the possibility that Fox had brought them here.

“What’s up?” I asked the girls as they skated next to me.

“What’s it look like?” Ava asked, motioning toward her skates.

“Lose the ‘tude,” I told her.

Her and Fawn just chuckled as they continued following me.

“Who brought you here?” I asked, my voice filled with dread.

“Wren,” Fawn answered. “We tried to get Fox to take us but he was being moody.”

“When isn’t he being moody,” I mumbled, not meaning to say that out loud. Fox and I seemed like we should be perfect together; we were both constantly moody.

Fawn just let out a loud laugh. “You’re right.”

“Are you staying over there tonight?” I asked Ava to which she nodded.

“Fawn and I are going to pull an all-nighter,” Ava said, Fawn enthusiastically nodding in agreement.

We continued skating and eventually I caught back up to Austin who was still holding himself up on the boards.

“Elijah, help,” he pleaded, holding his arm out for me to grab.

Ava sent me a wide eyed gaze as I pulled Austin along with me.

“Is that your boyfriend?” she whispered, though not quietly enough.

Austin laughed and gripped me tighter.

“No,” I answered, shaking my head.

“Don’t be like that, Eli,” Austin joked, leaning in to plant a kiss on my cheek.

“Stop,” I said, shoving him lightly.

“Don’t!” he said in a panicked tone, nearly falling over.

“I won’t tell Dad,” Ava assured me.

I just sighed and steadied Austin. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Your other brother is more my type,” Austin told her, earning a smack in the shoulder from me and a look of confusion from Ava.

“Shut up,” I grumbled.

“I’m just being real with you.”

“You guys are weird,” Ava said.

“Elijah, I have to pee. Bring me to the exit,” Austin instructed. “Sorry ladies. Duty calls.”

I just rolled my eyes at him and bid Ava and Fawn a goodbye before dragging Austin across the ice and back to where our shoes were. He quickly changed out of his skates and back into his sneakers before running off toward the bathroom.

“Elijah, is it?” a voice called out. I turned to see Wren was sitting on the bench beside me. I hadn’t even noticed he was there until he said something.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Fox’s friend?”

I just nodded. If that was what you could call me.

“Come sit,” Wren offered, though it sounded more like a command. And for some reason, I listened to him no matter how much I didn’t want to. I took a seat beside Wren and awkwardly scratched the back of my neck.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” Wren said in a kind tone. I couldn’t help but feel like he was analyzing my every move.

“I’m good,” I replied, clearing my throat.

“Fox was worried about you the other night,” he told me. “It made him even more unbearable than usual.”

“Oh.”

“That’s just how he gets when he’s nervous,” Wren continued. “Annoyed easily, constantly pacing, doesn’t listen.”

Wren’s tone was smooth and almost cunning. It made it seem like there was something he knew that I didn’t.

“Well, it was my fault he was like that,” I told him, for some reason feeling like I had to defend Fox.

It was strange for me to be speaking to his brother, and I didn’t like hearing Wren speak ill of him. It caused an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, my insides twisting.

“No, it wasn’t,” Wren denied.

I finally turned to look at him. His face was calm with a slight smile planted there, identical to the one he showed me the night I left Fox’s house. The smile wasn’t kind, but seemed to be more mocking, like he had me figured out and there was nothing I could say to him that he didn’t already know.

“What do you mean?” I dared to ask.

Wren’s sneering smile widened.

“The way Fox acts isn’t your fault,” he told me. “Besides, I heard you two fighting that night.”

My eyes widened and I wanted nothing more than to get myself out of this situation. He must have seen the panic on my face because Wren’s eyebrows raised and his smile retracted slightly.

“Don’t panic,” he said.

“What did you hear?”

“Enough.”

My mind filled with dread.

“I told you don’t panic,” he reminded me. “There is nothing new I learned about my brother from hearing you guys.”

Wren confused me to no end.

“So…” I trailed. “You already knew…”

“That he’s gay?” Wren asked in a low tone so that no one would hear. “Yes, I’ve known for years.”

This didn’t seem to add up. Fox had told me he and Wren had hated each other their whole lives. Why would he trust him with something that he wanted to hide?

“He told you that?” I asked.

“Of course not,” Wren replied with a slight laugh. “But it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “How are you so sure you’re right?”

“Part of the reason Fox hates me so much is because he can’t hide anything from me,” Wren explained. “He’s an open book to me and I call him out on his bullshit. I see right through him and he hates it.”

“He also hates you because you’re an ass to him,” I let the words slip out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Well, yeah,” Wren chuckled. “He’s easy to rile up.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to know that I know,” Wren answered, though it was vague and didn’t help me.

“Does Fox know that you know?”

Wren smirked. “No and I would like to keep it that way, though I’m sure you’ll tell him anyway.”

I shook my head at him, my jaw tense as I looked at his sardonic expression. I could see why Fox didn’t like him much; his demeanor was extremely narcissistic.

“Then you wouldn’t have told me if you didn’t want him knowing,” I remarked. “Since you’re so sure that I’ll tell him.”

Wren pondered on my words for a moment before nodding, his lips quirking up.

“You’re smarter than I anticipated,” he said.

I didn’t say anything else to him. Wren was hard to be around and I felt like he was reading my like a book, like he claimed he did to Fox.

I looked past him to see Claudia and Holly making their way over to us. I silently thanked them for saving me from this situation.

“Hey, Wren,” Claudia greeted, her arm around Holly’s waist. “I didn’t know you were back from school.”

“Just came back Friday,” he said, looking her up and down. “You look good, Claudia.”

She just laughed at him. “You won’t charm me.”

He chuckled. “It was worth a shot.”

Somehow this situation got even more uncomfortable after the girls had arrived.

Holly sat down beside me on the bench to put her skates back on, causing me to have to move even closer to Wren.

“Where were you guys?” I whispered to Holly while Claudia spoke with Wren.

“The hot cocoa line was long,” Holly told me.

“You don’t even have hot cocoa,” I said.

Holly just grinned. “We drank it over there.”

And they made out somewhere, but Holly was too sweet to mention that.

“Anyway, I have to get the girls home,” Wren announced, his leg brushing against mine as he stood up from the bench. “They haven’t had dinner yet.”

I watched as he walked over to the edge of the rink, calling out to Ava and Fawn. The girls were quick to come off the ice and sit down next to me for to put on their shoes.

“Bye Ava. Have fun. Love you,” I said to my sister as she got up to leave.

“Love you,” she replied, shoving my shoulder.

“It was nice talking to you, Elijah,” Wren said with that stupid smile.

I just nodded and he left with the girls trailing behind him.

“Are you coming back on the ice?” Holly asked Claudia, leaning over me to talk to her as she sat on my other side.

“You go. I’ll be on in a few minutes,” Claudia answered.

Holly just shrugged and headed back to the rink, meeting up with Nadia and Lexa.

Claudia and I were silent for a few moments before she spoke up.

“So…” she trailed. “What did you and Wren talk about?”

“Not much,” I lied.

She gave me a knowing look, raising her eyebrows like she saw right through my lie.

“I know what he’s like,” Claudia said. “He probably wouldn’t have even talked to you if it was ‘not much.'”

Sometimes I forgot that she and Fox dated. No wonder she knew Wren so well. When I did remember, it put a sour taste in my mouth.

“He was just talking about Fox,” I admitted with a sigh.

“About you and Fox?”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you and Fox,” Claudia replied in a low tone.

Great. She knew too?

“I know about Fox’s sexuality,” she admitted in a soft tone. “That’s why he broke up with me.”

“Really?”

Claudia nodded. “He couldn’t take it anymore I guess. I don’t blame him.”

“Yeah…”

“And I see the way he looks at you,” she told me with a smile. “It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”

“He doesn’t look at me in any special way,” I muttered, my cheeks heating up.

Claudia scoffed before letting out a laugh. “He looks at you the way I wished he looked at me when we were dating.”

I shook my head at her, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Anyway, I just want to say don’t let Wren intimidate you,” Claudia continued. “He’s not as bad as Fox wants you to think. And he’s not as clever as he wants you to think.”

“You seem to know him well,” I murmured, giving her a sideways glance.

My jealousy toward Claudia wasn’t fair to her, but I couldn’t help it.

“I was with him before I was with Fox,” she casually confessed.

“What?” I asked, surprised with wide eyes.

“Well we weren’t dating…” she trailed. “We were hooking up and I ended up falling for Fox.”

“Is that why they don’t get along?” I wondered.

An uncomfortable itch crept up on me at the thought of their feud being about Claudia.

Claudia laughed. “No. They don’t get along because they are too close in age and way too similar to each other. It drives them insane.”

She must have noticed the disbelieving look on my face.

“Wren didn’t care when I started dating Fox,” she assured me. “Wren was a player, probably still is. I didn’t really matter to him.”

“That’s sad,” I said.

“Not really,” she replied with a shrug. “Lucky for you, Fox is not like him in that way.”

“Fox and I aren’t together,” I told her, making sure no one around us could hear.

“But you should be,” she countered. “You’d be good for each other.”

I just scoffed.

Fox didn’t need me the way I needed him. He could have anyone who was willing to be what he needed, but I couldn’t find someone that would fill the void he left in me.

“Look Elijah,” Claudia started in a low tone. “Fox is still one of my closest friends, and you are so good for him.”

“I’m not,” I said, my voice slightly cracking. “I’m not what he needs.”

Claudia gave me a sympathetic look. “Maybe you need each other.”

I shook my head and she let out a sigh.

“Do what is good for you, but I’m just saying, you seem like you make each other really happy,” Claudia told me, clapping her hand down on my shoulder before standing up and heading back over to where her skates were and pulled them on so she could meet Holly on the ice.

I sat alone and pondered on her words for a little while, but I wasn’t left alone for long. Eventually Trevor came off the ice and sat down beside me, letting out a deep breath.

“Man, that is tiring!” he said in a breathless tone. “My feet are killing me.”

He pulled off his skates to replace them with his sneakers.

“Hey, are you okay?” Trevor asked when he noticed me staring off onto the ice.

I looked over at him with a tight smile.

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“That’s a lie but I’ll let it slide,” he told me with a grin as he tied his laces.

I shook my head at him.

“You know, Josh called me the other night,” Trevor told me after a few moments of silence.

“He did?” I asked in a surprised tone, my eyebrows raised.

“He didn’t know where you were,” Trevor continued. “He sounded worried.”

The fact that Josh was desperate enough to call Trevor, especially after finding out he had told me about their kiss, was shocking on its own.

“I’m surprised he called you,” I said.

Trevor chuckled. “Me too.”

Looking at Trevor, I began to wonder: why couldn’t I just like him? It would be so much easier. We could be together publicly without having to hide it. He was nice, sensible, and caring. He was truly anyone’s dream, but I couldn’t force myself to have feelings for him. And I couldn’t use him or lead him on.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Trevor asked with a thoughtful expression when he noticed me staring at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured him. “Just thinking.”

“Well, if you ever want to share, I’ll listen,” he said with a grin.

I nodded. “Thanks, Trev.”

Once everyone was ready to go, we left, Trevor dropping me off at home. We were all going to spend the night at Trevor’s, but Dad wanted me to come home. I couldn’t blame him. I had just disappeared on him for hours two nights ago. He probably just wants to know that I’m safe at home for a little bit.

I finished my nightly routine and got in bed with a sigh. I looked over at the painting from Trevor that hung on my wall and then over to my nightstand where I left the bracelet he made me. He was always so kind and welcoming, but I still rejected him. He was just another person that I disappointed.

I turned on my side and closed my eyes, hoping to fall asleep, but I remained wide awake. A tap on my window startled me and I stayed completely still, too frightened to move. The tapping continued and I slowly turned to see who was there.

I wasn’t prepared for who I saw.

**

Hi everyone. Hope you’re all doing well and staying safe.

What did you think about the ice skating trip with the GSA kids? What about Elijah’s talk with Wren and Claudia? Were any of your surprised? Who do you think is at the window?

Thanks for reading!